A blog for women of all ages who feel they are being ignored

Are you addicted to your mobile phone?

Mobile phones are a necessary evil. It seems we cannot live without them. Gone are the days when we simply used our phone for making and receiving calls.

You only have to look at your daily commute to see how many people are on their phone. It is getting to be a bigger addiction than alcohol or gambling.

So how can you stop looking at your mobile phone constantly.

On average we look at our mobile phone 35 times a day – how many times do you check your phone and how can you break the habit. Below are a few simple tips that could help you break the addiction.

Buy an alarm clock

If like me you use your mobile phone as a wake up alarm then you are not alone.

Did you know that around 30% of the UK population check their phone within 5 minutes of waking up. Also a staggering 35% of people check their phone during the night (exactly what is so urgent that you need to check your phone at 2am in the morning!)

So the first thing to do is to get a basic cheap alarm clock and banish the mobile phone from the bedroom. By not having the phone in the bedroom you naturally will not get up to check any ‘urgent’ messages’ and more importantly you will get a good nights sleep

Set a time each day to have one hour phone free time

Try to set a time each day when you will not check your phone. Put your phone out of sight – for example in a cupboard where you cannot see the phone. Also when you go out for lunch during your lunch break leave your phone at the office and enjoy your lunch. What about if you have to walk the dog in the evening. Again leave the phone at home. Try this a few times and you will then start to feel less stressed

Why not turn your phone off during the weekends when you go to bed

Do you really need all the aps on your phone

I just checked my mobile phone and was amazed that I had over 10 apps which I often check daily and now I am removing many of them. Of course there are a few I still need such as my step checker but I am now thinking of getting a fit bit to wear around my wrist instead.

Worried about your social media updates well check them on your PC instead but try to do this only around 3 times a week.

Turn off notifications

You do not need to be aware of every ‘like’ you receive from your social media accounts. The majority of them do not require your immediate attention. So just leave it for calls and texts but make sure you turn off all your social media accounts notifications. This also can include all your apps with a follow functions

You do not need to constantly check your emails every 30 minutes or so. If you do need notifications then make them silent. The constant bleeping makes you immediately look at your phone.

Stop checking your phone in the car

We all know how dangerous it is to text and drive. So put your mobile phone in the glove compartment of your car

Do not expect immediate results

Like all bad habits it can take a while to detox. In fact doing something different over 28 days will generally mean that you break the habit.